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29 December 2017 Gyracanthussherwoodi (Gnathostomata, Gyracanthidae) from the Late Devonian of North America
Daniel Snyder, Susan Turner, Carole J. Burrow, Edward B. Daeschler
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Abstract

New fossils of “Gyracanthussherwoodi Newberry, 1889 are described primarily from the Late Devonian Red Hill site and Metzger's Quarry (Catskill Formation, late Famennian) of Clinton and Sullivan Counties in central Pennsylvania. The fossils include ornamented prepectoral ventral plates, pectoral, pelvic, and dorsal fin spines, elements of the endoskeletal shoulder girdle (procoracoid and scapulocoracoid), scales, and possible anal fin spines. We distinguish between anterior and posterior dorsal fin spines. A growth series of elements, described for the first time for a gyracanth, show that the adults of this taxon reached about a meter in length, and juveniles already had ossified endoskeletal pectoral elements at body lengths 300–400 mm. The mainly cartilaginous skeleton, paired fin spines, shoulder girdle structure, and scale growth are consistent with gyracanthids being stem chondrichthyans. “Gyracanthus” sherwoodi lived in non-marine conditions in the eastern Laurentian rivers and deltas.

© 2017 by the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Daniel Snyder, Susan Turner, Carole J. Burrow, and Edward B. Daeschler "“Gyracanthussherwoodi (Gnathostomata, Gyracanthidae) from the Late Devonian of North America," Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 165(1), 195-219, (29 December 2017). https://doi.org/10.1635/053.165.0111
Received: 10 March 2015; Accepted: 1 December 2017; Published: 29 December 2017
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